This invention relates to a computer system for identifying a seat position of a user who uses a device, and more particularly, to a computer system for identifying a seat position of a user of a device used by a plurality of users.
In recent years, ongoing measures for reducing office costs include introduction of a “free-address office” in which a plurality of employees share seats in an office instead of being assigned with fixed seats. This allows remarkable reduction of spaces within the office particularly in a section with those who are often away on business, which leads to the reduction of the office costs. Other expected effects of the free-address office include prevention of accumulation of unnecessary documents because there is no fixed seat provided in the office.
However, when there is no fixed seat provided in the office, it is impossible to identify a seat position of the employee. This creates the need for confirming whether or not the employee is seated somewhere in the office and identifying where a given employee is seated in a case where a face-to-face conversation with the given employee is intended. To meet the need, there are proposed systems for identifying the seat position of an employee and displaying the seat position.
To be specific, as disclosed in JP 08-195769 A, there is known a technique in which such a database that a correspondence relationship between a MAC address of a device connected to a network line concentrator and a user ID of a user who uses the device is previously registered is used to identify a position of the user by identifying the user ID of the user who uses the device based on the MAC address of the device when the device is connected to a network.
However, the conventional technique has a problem in that a device and users do not correspond to each other on a one-to-one basis in a case where a single device is shared by a plurality of users through user authentication or the like. Thus, it is impossible to create such a database that a one-to-one correspondence relationship between the MAC address of the single device and the user IDs of the plurality of users who use the device is previously registered. Accordingly, the seat position of the user cannot be identified in a computer system including a device used by a plurality of users.
In addition, management costs increase in the case where the correspondence relationship between the MAC address of the device and the user ID of the user of the device is previously registered in the database.